Tag Archives: writing

Originally written for WRIT2250: Writing– Grammar, Syntax, and Style in 2014 as one of three discussions of grammatical concepts.

While talking with my father last week, I heard him use a phrase that I hadn’t heard used in a very long time:

‘Give it me [tomorrow then].’

To put this into cultural context, my Dad grew up in Bolton, and I had the first years of my life in Manchester and Lancashire, all areas of England encompassed in what is referred to as ‘The North’. In this part of the UK, the phrase ‘give it me’ is perfectly acceptable and frequently used. It is also, according to most people not from the area, incorrect.

To me, it is clear that this phrase is a shortening of ‘give it to me’, and coupled with a broad northern accent (although both my father and I speak with received pronunciation) sounds not at all out of place. In Australia people feel differently, as I discovered upon inadvertently repeating the phrase in a similar context a week later.

‘What? “Give it you?” What does that even mean?’ I was asked.

I recognise that this lack of the preposition to could make it unclear whether the it was to be given to me or if I were to be given to it, but I reject the notion that meaning is lost from this phrase when used in context. I am coming to the conclusion that the person who called me out did understand my meaning (to give me back the book they had borrowed the next day), and was just nitpicking at my unconventional pronunciation.

Just as there are different dialects of German, French and other languages, we must accept that regional dialects of English also exist. These versions of the same language should not be seen as ‘English with mistakes’ or as somehow less correct than standard British/Australian/American English, but accepted as correct in their own right.

I am not wrong for speaking Lanky (as the dialect is referred to in the UK). I am just speaking in another dialect of the same language.

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I’ve finally got there! More to come over the coming weeks, my masters is ramping up now so hopefully I’ll have some new and improved content up in between old pieces of writing.

Once again I have left posting entirely too long. I had so many ideas for this blog when I last tried to come back to writing nine months ago, and haven’t followed through with any of them.

In the time since I last posted I: applied to an exchange program and was rejected; transferred universities; started therapy, stopped, then started again; travelled back and forth from Melbourne to Brisbane three times; got back together with my boyfriend; moved home and cut all my hair off. Not quite in that order.

Coming home is probably the best decision I’ve made in a while, along with starting to write again (nothing I’d show the outside world just yet but I’m getting there). I’d like to say I’m settling back in pretty well. Classes start next week at UQ and I’m actually excited about learning for the first time in a long time.

I’m planning a twice-a-week upload schedule for this blog, but forgive me if I don’t manage it when assessment starts up.

The following is an assignment written in August for the General News Reporting course I took this semester. The prompt was to write a local hard news article to be published in a local paper. I wasn’t completely happy with the end result, but I think I did okay given no one really wanted to talk to me:

Proposed mega-ports and expansion along the coast of the Great Barrier Reef were protested in Brisbane on August 25th. More than 3000 protesters marched through Brisbane streets to call for stronger protection of the reef from politicians.

The plans proposed by the Queensland Government and the Adani (Adani) Group would involve extensive dredging around Abbot point and result in increased shipping traffic along the coast. The ecological repercussions of such expansion going forth improperly managed could be catastrophic, according to Greg Skilleter (Greg Skilleter) of the Marine and Estuarine Ecology Unit at the University of Queensland.

“One of the biggest visible issues with dredging” says Dr Skilleter, “… is it makes the water murky.” This, he explains, stops light from passing through the water, which affects the growth of certain kinds of plankton and coral, which causes a knock on effect right up the food chain.

In the weeks leading up to the election last weekend, both major political parties spoke of the need to protect the reef. “It’s a positive step forward,” said Felicity Wishart (Felicity Wishart), campaign director at the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

Ms Wishart was positive about the reaction to the protest last month, and is confident that this issue is one that people care about. “The majority of Queenslanders … supported a ban on dumping dredge waste in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef,” she said of a recent poll of nine electorates along the coast and in the southeast of Queensland.

And with good reason, “Those sediments don’t just land back where they came from… and they smother anything they land on,” said Greg Skilleter on the topic of dredge waste. The potential for pollutants in these sediments is high, further endangering the reef ecosystem.

“Australians love the Great Barrier Reef” says Felicity Wishart, “Once people are made aware of the planned future range of developments along the Reef, their concern for this natural wonder only grows.”

Ms Wishart and the rest of Fight for the Reef and the Australian Marine Conservation Society plan to continue to raise awareness about the industrialisation and its impact as the new parliament makes vital decisions about the future of the reef.